A Preliminary Investigation of the Perceived Smallest Sound Duration Change in a Room

1997 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 197-209
Author(s):  
D.-U. Jeong ◽  
F.R. Fricke
Keyword(s):  
Noise Level ◽  
Background Noise ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Preliminary Investigation ◽  
Room Acoustics ◽  
Reverberation Time ◽  
Background Noise Level ◽  
Intelligibility Test ◽  
Sound Duration

The present work aims at producing a test, similar to a speech intelligibility test, which can be used to rate the acoustic quality of rooms for music. Listeners' perceptions of the duration of sounds were investigated in an attempt to find a useful indicator of the acoustics of a room for music and speech. The research design was based on a discrimination task and a 2AFC experimental procedure. Two experiments were carried out in which two acoustic variables, reverberation time and background noise level, were varied and listeners' smallest perceivable sound duration changes were measured. It was found that the listeners' duration perceptions were significantly influenced by the reverberation time and background noise level of the listening environment, and that these discrimination procedures may form the basis for room acoustics assessments.

Sound environment quality in nursing units in Chinese nursing homes: A pilot study

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 283-298
Author(s):  
Hui Xie ◽  
Bingzhi Zhong ◽  
Chang Liu
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Homes ◽  
Nursing Staff ◽  
Noise Level ◽  
Background Noise ◽  
Subjective Evaluation ◽  
Reverberation Time ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Background Noise Level ◽  
Sound Environment ◽  
Nursing Station

Recent studies have investigated sound environment in nursing homes. However, there has been little research on the sound environment of nursing units. This research sought to address this gap. Subjective evaluations were gathered using questionnaire surveys of 75 elderly residents and 30 nursing staff members in five nursing units of five nursing homes in Chongqing, China. Background noise level and reverberation time were measured in five empty bedrooms, five occupied bedrooms and five occupied nursing station areas, in five nursing units. The subjective evaluation results indicate that the residents stay in the nursing units for most of their waking hours. The residents and nursing staff had strong preferences for natural sounds, with the lowest perceptions of these in the nursing units. The background noise level in all the occupied bedrooms exceeded Chinese standards for waking and sleeping hours. Only 20% of the occupied nursing station areas were below the allowable noise level for recreation and fitness room during sleeping hours. The nursing station area was identified as the main source of noise in the unit during waking hours. The average background noise level of the occupied bedrooms was 3–12 dBA higher than that of the empty bedrooms during sleeping hours. Attention should be given to the implementation of noise specifications for sleeping hours. The reverberation time of the bedrooms was within the range of 0.44–0.68 s, and in the nursing station areas it was 0.63–1.54 s.

Evaluation of Sound Comfort in Examination Hall Using Acoustical Environmental Analyses

2013 ◽  
Vol 315 ◽  
pp. 825-829
Author(s):  
M. Mohd Amran ◽  
M. Shaiful Rizal ◽  
I. Maznan ◽  
Mohd Nazrul Roslan ◽  
Y. Musli Nizam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Noise Level ◽  
Background Noise ◽  
Sound Pressure ◽  
Reverberation Time ◽  
Acoustic Parameters ◽  
Acoustic Performance ◽  
Absorbent Material ◽  
Background Noise Level ◽  
Wall Condition ◽  
A Minor

Acoustics environmental analyses were conducted in the unoccupied examination hall at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), in order to determine the acoustical environment which reflects to sound comfort during sitting exam. The acoustic parameters that measured are background noise level, sound pressure level and reverberation time. The analysis result of untreated wall condition (without absorbent material) was revealed poor while treated wall condition (with absorbent material) revealed the improvement result. Installation of absorbent material on the wall and speakers rearrangement had reduced the highest background noise level of examination hall average reverberation times. A minor alteration at examination hall had contributed to better acoustic performance.

ACOUSTICALLY CHARACTERIZED 'EXPERIENCE OF TRANSCENDENCE' IN PFARKIRCHE ST MICHAEL, STEYR

Akustika ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 62-67
Author(s):  
Menino Allan S.M. Peter Tavares
Keyword(s):  
Noise Level ◽  
Background Noise ◽  
Ambient Noise ◽  
Noise Levels ◽  
Intangible Heritage ◽  
Significant Relationships ◽  
Background Noise Level ◽  
Sound Levels

Experience of Transcendence’ is acoustically characterized in Pfarrkirche St Michael, Steyr using trained participants’ feedback during live organ rendition of Johann Sebastian Bach’s ‘TOCCATA’. Transcendental experiences of ‘awe’, ‘deeper understanding’ and ‘tranquility’ were acoustically derived and termed as ‘Acoustically Transcendent Awe’ (ATAWE), ‘Acoustically Transcendent Intelligibility’ (ATINT), and ‘Acoustically Transcendent Tranquility’ (ATTRANQ). In this study, ‘Acoustically Transcendent Intelligibility’ (ATINT) and ‘Acoustically Transcendent Tranquility’ (ATTRANQ) showed significant multiregressions with subjective acoustical qualities of the space (R2=0.99; p=0.01) and (R2=0.99; p=0.04) respectively. Instantaneous, statistical and percentile sound levels during ambient noise and during live performances were recorded at different listening zones. Background Noise Levels (LA90) between 76dB-82dB indicated congregational and choir space as optimally loud (without any need for electro-acoustical support) and sanctuary (with LA90 value of 56.8dB) as needing support, for performance and listening. Acoustically ranscendent Intelligibility (ATINT) was found significantly predictable from Subjective Acoustical Quality of Silence from Background Noise (SAQSNOIS) (p=0.05) and from Background Noise Level (LA90) (p=0.05). Perception of optimal Reverberance (SAQREV) in the Choir Loft provides good ambience for choir and musicians. These significant relationships between Acoustical Transcendence Impressions, Subjective Acoustical Qualities and Sound Levels can serve as part of Pfarrkirche St Michael’s unique intangible heritage.

Speech Intelligibility Parameters for Evaluating the Perception of Background Noise in Open-Plan Office Users: A Case Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Serrano Ruiz
Keyword(s):  
Background Noise ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Physical Factors ◽  
Space Design ◽  
Transmission Index ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
Design Characteristics

This document presents a case study of acoustic analysis in an open-plan office. Since Mexico does not have a standard for evaluating acoustic conditions in offices, it is relevant to compare different acoustic evaluation methods used for open-plan offices. According to several studies, one of the main acoustic characteristics for open-plan office spaces is speech intelligibility. Therefore, the purpose of this document is to compare psychoacoustic parameters to evaluate speech intelligibility in open-plan offices. We analyzed physical factors as reverberation and speech clarity in different office points, as well as semantic factors based on subjective methods with standardized values of the quality of speech intelligibility. The study was carried out under real open-plan office conditions in a library in a university in northern Mexico. The study factors of interest were type of sound, sound source, and location of the listener, with Reverberation Time (RT), Speech Transmission Index (STI) and Loss of consonant articulation (%ALCons) as the measures of impact on intelligibility. This case study provides additional evidence of the relationship between intelligibility and the position of sound sources; also, it was noted that location of listeners influenced analyzed intelligibility parameters. On the other hand, this case study offers information concerning to use psychoacoustic parameters for subjective classification of quality of the speech intelligibility to evaluate how is background noise perceived in open-plan office users. However, it is noteworthy that this study represents a single office with its own interior and space design characteristics.

Prediction of Threshold Sand Rates from Acoustic Monitors Using Artificial Intelligence

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald E. Vieira ◽  
Bohan Xu ◽  
Asad Nadeem ◽  
Ahmed Nadeem ◽  
Siamack A. Shirazi
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Machine Learning ◽  
Noise Level ◽  
Background Noise ◽  
Pipe Wall ◽  
Flow Patterns ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Flow Conditions ◽  
Background Noise Level ◽  
Input Parameters

Abstract Solids production from oil and gas wells can cause excessive damage resulting in safety hazards and expensive repairs. To prevent the problems associated with sand influx, ultrasonic devices can be used to provide a warning when sand is being produced in pipelines. One of the most used methods for sand detection is utilizing commercially available acoustic sand monitors that clamp to the outside of pipe wall and measures the acoustic energy generated by sand grain impacts on the inner side of a pipe wall. Although the transducer used by acoustic monitors is especially sensitive to acoustic emissions due to particle impact, it also reacts to flow induced noise as well (background noise). The acoustic monitor output does not exceed the background noise level until a sufficient sand rate is entrained in the flow that causes a signal output that is higher than the background noise level. This sand rate is referred to as the threshold sand rate or TSR. A significant amount of data has been compiled over the years for TSR at the Tulsa University Sand Management Projects (TUSMP) for various flow conditions with stainless steel pipe material. However, to use this data to develop a model for different flow patterns, fluid properties, pipe, and sand sizes is challenging. The purpose of this work is to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) methodology using machine learning (ML) models to determine TSR for a broad range of operating conditions. More than 250 cases from previous literature as well as ongoing research have been used to train and test the ML models. The data utilized in this work has been generated mostly in a large-scale multiphase flow loop for sand sizes ranging from 25 to 300 μm varying sand concentrations and pipe diameters from 25.4 mm to 101.6 mm ID in vertical and horizontal directions downstream of elbows. The ML algorithms including elastic net, random forest, support vector machine and gradient boosting, are optimized using nested cross-validation and the model performance is evaluated by R-squared score. The machine learning models were used to predict TSR for various velocity combinations under different flow patterns with sand. The sensitivity to changes of input parameters on predicted TSR was also investigated. The method for TSR prediction based on ML algorithms trained on lab data is also validated on actual field conditions available in the literature. The AI method results reveal a good training performance and prediction for a variety of flow conditions and pipe sizes not tested before. This work provides a framework describing a novel methodology with an expanded database to utilize Artificial Intelligence to correlate the TSR with the most common production input parameters.

Modeling Speech Level as a Function of Background Noise Level and Talker-to-Listener Distance for Talkers Wearing Hearing Protection Devices

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (12) ◽  
pp. 3393-3403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel E. Bouserhal ◽  
Annelies Bockstael ◽  
Ewen MacDonald ◽  
Tiago H. Falk ◽  
Jérémie Voix
Keyword(s):  
Noise Level ◽  
Background Noise ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Sound Level ◽  
Hearing Protection ◽  
Background Noise Level ◽  
Vocal Effort ◽  
Protection Devices ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Studying the variations in speech levels with changing background noise level and talker-to-listener distance for talkers wearing hearing protection devices (HPDs) can aid in understanding communication in background noise. Method Speech was recorded using an intra-aural HPD from 12 different talkers at 5 different distances in 3 different noise conditions and 2 quiet conditions. Results This article proposes models that can predict the difference in speech level as a function of background noise level and talker-to-listener distance for occluded talkers. The proposed model complements the existing model presented by Pelegrín-García, Smits, Brunskog, and Jeong (2011) and expands on it by taking into account the effects of occlusion and background noise level on changes in speech sound level. Conclusions Three models of the relationship between vocal effort, background noise level, and talker-to-listener distance for talkers wearing HPDs are presented. The model with the best prediction intervals is a talker-dependent model that requires the users' unoccluded speech level at 10 m as a reference. A model describing the relationship between speech level, talker-to-listener distance, and background noise level for occluded talkers could eventually be incorporated with radio protocols to transmit verbal communication only to an intended set of listeners within a given spatial range—this range being dependent on the changes in speech level and background noise level.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document